体坛英语新闻：Sharapova beats Halep to win second French Open title

PARIS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Maria Sharapova survived a midway drop to win her second French Open title with a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 win over Simona Halep on Saturday.

The Russian now won five Grand Slam titles, taking her to joint-11th on the all-time list alongside Martina Hingis.

Seventh seed Sharapova has battled through four matches in a row that saw her clinch victory in a final set.

She opened the match by winning five games in a row to build up a 5-2 lead in the first set, then served out the set after allowing Halep, the fourth seed, to win two games.

But the 26-year-old faltered in the second set, losing all the final four points in the tie-breaker.

"Just when I thought I was very close to winning it, I had lost four points in a row," said Sharapova. "Then the match becomes equal. Then you find yourself in a position where you feel like you're starting over, which is quite difficult."

"I just took a moment to reflect and try to think of the things that I was doing to hurt her and the things that were giving me an advantage in the game," she said.

"I knew that she was playing well, and despite all that, despite that it was a very physical match, I still wanted to continue to try to do those things well no matter how frustrating it was to lose that second set," she said.

Halep, 22, who was playing her first Grand Slam final, suddenly lost her form and won no point in the final two games of the third set.

"I have to work more at my forehand, because I did few important mistakes in important moments," said Halep. "I'm really, how to say, I'm really happy for the way how I played, because I think I played my best tennis. I tried just to stay very focused during the points."

"It was a good match, and for sure now I will take a break of tennis. Then I will work again to play more many matches," said the Romanian.